Zooloretto is a board game designed by Michael Schacht, published in 2007 by Abacus Spiele and in English by Rio Grande Games. The premise of the game is that each player is the owner of a zoo, and must collect animals in order to attract visitors to their zoo (thus scoring points to win the game). Having full, or nearly full, animal enclosures scores more points. However, if a player has too many animals such that they must be stored in their "barn", this causes them to lose points. Vending stalls also offer a means for players to score points with enclosures that are not full.

Zooloretto
Cover of the game
DesignersMichael Schacht
PublishersRio Grande Games (USA)
Abacus Spiele (Germany)
Lautapelit.fi (Skandinavia)
G3 (Poland)
Hobby World (Russia)
Korea Boardgames (Korea)
Filosofia Éditions (France)
playgo (Hong Kong))
999 Games (Dutch)
Z-Man Games (USA)
White Goblin Games (Dutch)
Players2–5
Setup time5 minutes
Playing time30–45 minutes
ChanceMedium
Age range8+
SkillsSet collection, Tile Placement

The method that players use to collect animals is based on the mechanics of the card game Coloretto (also designed by Michael Schacht).

A game of Zooloretto at Essen 2007

Expansions and spin-offs

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Three large expansions have been published, XXL, Exotic, and Boss. Numerous small expansions have been published, many of which are available for download (at no cost) at the publisher's website. These include extra animal enclosures, a petting zoo, restaurant, souvenir shop, and pavilions, each of which offers different opportunities for players to score points or money. An additional large expansion, Aquaretto, can be played as a stand-alone game or in combination with Zooloretto.

Digital versions

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An iPhone and iPod Touch version was developed by Spinbottle games and published by Chillingo in May 2009.[1]

Zooloretto for PC (including digitally via Steam) was developed by White Bear Studios and published in 2011. Nintendo DS and Wii versions were in deployment but canceled The game has a single player campaign mode and a multiplayer mode. The game can be played (just like the board game) with five local players, with no online option.

Animals

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NOTE: The lion is on the King of the Beasts edition of the game. Both the Lion and Rabbit are available as a Promo from their webstore.

Awards

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Reviews

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  • Family Games: The 100 Best[6]

References

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  1. ^ "'Zooloretto' Board Game from SpinBottle Games and Chillingo". 2009-05-23. Archived from the original on 2009-05-27. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  2. ^ "Zooloretto". Archived from the original on 2023-06-03. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
  3. ^ "2007 Golden Geek Awards". Board Game Geek. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  4. ^ a b c Spencer, Spanner (2009-04-27). "Award winning boardgame Zooloretto coming to iPhone". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  5. ^ "Japan Boardgame Prize 2007 winners". Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  6. ^ Lowder, James (2010). Family games : The 100 best. Green Ronin. ISBN 978-1-934547-21-2.
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